New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday condemned the beating up of a protester by Congress leaders at party leader Rahul Gandhi's Uttar Pradesh rally.

After TV footage showed Congress leaders, including union ministers of state Jitin Prasada and R.P.N. Singh, along with party workers attacking a protester with black flag at Rahul Gandhi's rally in Phulpur, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain called the step totally wrong.

"It is totally wrong, it does not suit the Congress leaders," Hussain said here.

The BJP leader also attacked Rahul Gandhi over his comments stating that people from Uttar Pradesh had to "beg" in states like Maharashtra.

"This is an insult to the people of Uttar Pradesh. How many times Rahul Gandhi has gone to Maharashtra and has seen people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar begging there. He has hurt the sentiments of the people of Uttar Pradesh... I have never seen a person from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar begging in Maharashtra," he told reporters.

Kickstarting the Congress campaign for the 2012 election from the constituency of his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi pressed the youth to oust the Bahujan Samaj Party.